Streaking La Salle beats NU in UAAP men's basketball, too
MANILA, Philippines — The La Salle Green Archers are peaking at the right time as they booked their third straight victory at the expense of the NU Bulldogs, 63-58, in UAAP Season 85 men's basketball at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Wednesday.
Coming off a morale-boosting win over defending champions UP, La Salle stymied NU with a 13-point scoring outburst form Penny Estacio in the third salvo where they outscored their foes, 16-9.
Estacio exceeded NU's offensive output for the period by himself as he went a scorching 5-of-7 from the field.
La Salle improved their standing to 6-6 and gained more ground in the Final Four race with the midfield jockeying for position.
Meanwhile, NU fell to 9-4, as they continue to seek the twice-to-beat semis bonus.
NU was bucking the absence of Kean Baclaan, who was ejected from the game with 8:43 left in the third period for infractions of faking a foul.
The Archers were ahead, 35-28, at that point of the game.
But the Bulldogs hung around until late in the game when they forced Estacio into a backing violation with 50.6 with La Salle's lead at seven, 62-55.
The Bulldogs, though, shot themselves in the foot when they couldn't manufacture a play and absorbed the 24-shot clock violation with 35.9 ticks left.
That seemed to be the back breaker for the Bulldogs who saw their four-game win streak end.
"It was pretty hard for us. It was a dogfight out there. We know that NU is the second hottest team in the league right now, they're the No. 2 team. We just gotta keep pounding, keep digging out there," said La Salle head coach Derrick Pumaren.
"Penny had a big third quarter to give us that lift. I'm telling the guys that it's the next man up, and it's Penny's turn," he added.
Estacio added two rebounds, two steals and an assist to his name to pace the Archers.
Evan Nelle added 10 markers while Mike Phillips finished with nine markers, 11 boards, three asissts, three steals, and a block.
Jake Figueroa topscored for NU with 19 points while John Lloyd Clemente finished with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
La Salle hopes to keep it going against fellow contender UE on Saturday while NU attempts to rebound against the Adamson Soaring Falcons.
Over in women's hoops in the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion, La Salle's women counterparts also beat the NU Lady Bulldogs — which snapped a historic 108-game winning streak by the latter.
The Lady Archers won in overtime, 61-57.
The scores:
LA SALLE 63 -- Estacio 13, Nelle 10, M. Phillips 9, Nonoy 7, Cortez 7, Quiambao 6, Abadam 4, Austria 2, B. Phillips 2, Nwankwo 2, Macalalag 1, Winston 0.
NU 58 -- Figueroa 19, Clemente 15, Manansala 5, John 4, Enriquez 4, Baclaan 4, Palacielo 2, Mahinay 2, Padrones 2, Minerva 1, Malonzo 0, Yu 0, Galinato 0, Tibayan 0, Tulabut 0.
Quarters: 14-14, 32-28, 48-37, 63-58.
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